Ruby Chow was a Chinese American restaurateur and politician in Seattle, Washington.
Born as Ma Seung Gum in Seattle, she married twice. Her first marriage produced two sons. She and her second husband, Edward Shui "Ping" Chow (November 5, 1916 - June 29, 2011), opened Ruby Chow's restaurant in 1948 at 1122 Jefferson Street (at the corner of Broadway & Jefferson), the first Chinese restaurant outside of Seattle's Chinatown, where her staff subsequently included Bruce Lee. She served three terms as a King County councilwoman. She was the first Asian American elected to King County Council.
The county council named Ruby Chow Park, at the corner of S. Albro Place and 13th Avenue S. (47°32′47″N 122°18′54″W), after Chow in 1985.
Death:
Ruby Chow died in 2008, two days before her 88th birthday, from heart failure in her native Seattle, and was survived by her five children and her husband, Ping. Her daughter, Cheryl Chow, served as a member of the Seattle City Council from 1990 to 1997.
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http://www.seattlepi.com
When Ruby Chow's son, Edward, was a boy, he didn't want to eat his vegetables.
So, he and his brother mailed the food to hungry children in China -- thinking their mother would be proud.
The Postal Service returned the soggy envelope. Their mother ordered the boys to finish their meal.
While the public knew her as a Chinatown leader and former King County councilwoman, the Chow family shared memories of the matriarch's life Wednesday during her memorial at Town Hall in Seattle.
Hundreds of people, including city and county elected officials, paid their respects to Chow, 87, who died June 4 from heart failure.
Her children's stories helped explain what motivated Chow and made her so determined in life.
When she was 9, her teacher asked why her clothing was always so dirty. Chow, the oldest of 10 children, said she was wearing everything she owned.
The next day, her teacher gave her new clothing.
As a child, she once received free medical care and named one of her sons, Brien, after the doctor who helped.
"My mother passed on these lessons of kindness," Edward Chow Jr., her oldest son from Washington, D.C., said.
They and the notion of public service took root.
Her daughter, Cheryl Chow, is president of the Seattle School Board and a former city councilwoman. Mark Chow, another son, is a King County district judge.
On Town Hall's stage Wednesday, wreaths sat next to her black-and-white portrait. Her family, including great-grandchildren, sat in the audience.
Edward Shui Ping Chow, her 92-year-old husband, made his way to the stage and thanked everyone for attending.
"We were deeply in love, and we held each other in the highest respect," Chow, who goes by the name Ping, said in Cantonese with the help of a translator.
In one family photo shown on a screen during her memorial, Ping Chow had wrapped his arm around her at a restaurant.
Next to them were two Chinese characters that mean "double happiness" -- and are used when two people are inseparable.
Kyle Chow, her grandson, talked about how she brought him six Vietnamese sandwiches for months, after she learned he enjoyed their taste.
Why six?
If she bought five sandwiches, he said, she would get the sixth for free.
"When my grandmother would deliver, she would really deliver," he said. "She wanted to make me happy."
One of her proudest accomplishments was starting the Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team in the 1950s. Chow wanted to give girls a positive activity to boost their self-esteem and teamwork.
In a team farewell, five girls wearing the ornate red and gold uniforms and headdresses bowed three times before her portrait.
Bowing three times is one of the highest ways to show respect at Cantonese Chinese funerals. Then, the girls bowed before Ping Chow and hugged him.
The audience wept.
To honor Chow, King County lowered flags on government buildings, her husband said.
The daughter of a Chinese immigrant, Chow was born Ruby Mar on a city dock June 6, 1920.
Her life didn't seem to hold promise early on. Her father died. She dropped out of high school and went to work as a waitress.
But success followed her -- first in business, when she and her husband opened a popular restaurant, Ruby Chow's, and then in politics, when she and other Asian-Americans were elected to public office.
A final achievement will come this month, when Franklin High School awards her an honorary diploma.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Hundreds-pay-final-respects-to-Ruby-Chow-1276242.php∼Matriarch of the Seattle Chinese community. Ruby Chow was born Seung Gum Mar on a fish dock at the Seattle waterfront, where her father worked and lived. A midwife came to assist, being that hospital births for Chinese were a rare occurrence around that time. At age 17, Ruby moved to New York and met Ping Chow, who had been a member of a Chinese opera company and a WWII Army veteran. They married and returned to Seattle in 1943. In 1949, she and her husband, Ping opened Ruby Chow's Restaurant, a Seattle landmark that attracted celebrities and politicians alike. Among the many workers who passed through her restaurant, Ping and Ruby took in a young, 19 year old Bruce Lee in 1959, giving him a room upstairs, as a favor to Lee's father, who was an old friend of Ping from his days in the Chinese opera company. Recognized as a natural leader in the community in 1971, Ruby was first appointed to the King County Board of Equalization and Appeals by then-Executive John Spellman. Having whetted her appetite for meaningful service to the community, Ruby went on to be elected, and served on the King County Council from 1974 to 1985. In October of 2004, she suffered a massive stroke, but recovered quickly. She passed away at her home in the Seward Park neighborhood, of heart failure in 2008.
Born as Ma Seung Gum in Seattle, she married twice. Her first marriage produced two sons. She and her second husband, Edward Shui "Ping" Chow (November 5, 1916 - June 29, 2011), opened Ruby Chow's restaurant in 1948 at 1122 Jefferson Street (at the corner of Broadway & Jefferson), the first Chinese restaurant outside of Seattle's Chinatown, where her staff subsequently included Bruce Lee. She served three terms as a King County councilwoman. She was the first Asian American elected to King County Council.
The county council named Ruby Chow Park, at the corner of S. Albro Place and 13th Avenue S. (47°32′47″N 122°18′54″W), after Chow in 1985.
Death:
Ruby Chow died in 2008, two days before her 88th birthday, from heart failure in her native Seattle, and was survived by her five children and her husband, Ping. Her daughter, Cheryl Chow, served as a member of the Seattle City Council from 1990 to 1997.
**************************************************
http://www.seattlepi.com
When Ruby Chow's son, Edward, was a boy, he didn't want to eat his vegetables.
So, he and his brother mailed the food to hungry children in China -- thinking their mother would be proud.
The Postal Service returned the soggy envelope. Their mother ordered the boys to finish their meal.
While the public knew her as a Chinatown leader and former King County councilwoman, the Chow family shared memories of the matriarch's life Wednesday during her memorial at Town Hall in Seattle.
Hundreds of people, including city and county elected officials, paid their respects to Chow, 87, who died June 4 from heart failure.
Her children's stories helped explain what motivated Chow and made her so determined in life.
When she was 9, her teacher asked why her clothing was always so dirty. Chow, the oldest of 10 children, said she was wearing everything she owned.
The next day, her teacher gave her new clothing.
As a child, she once received free medical care and named one of her sons, Brien, after the doctor who helped.
"My mother passed on these lessons of kindness," Edward Chow Jr., her oldest son from Washington, D.C., said.
They and the notion of public service took root.
Her daughter, Cheryl Chow, is president of the Seattle School Board and a former city councilwoman. Mark Chow, another son, is a King County district judge.
On Town Hall's stage Wednesday, wreaths sat next to her black-and-white portrait. Her family, including great-grandchildren, sat in the audience.
Edward Shui Ping Chow, her 92-year-old husband, made his way to the stage and thanked everyone for attending.
"We were deeply in love, and we held each other in the highest respect," Chow, who goes by the name Ping, said in Cantonese with the help of a translator.
In one family photo shown on a screen during her memorial, Ping Chow had wrapped his arm around her at a restaurant.
Next to them were two Chinese characters that mean "double happiness" -- and are used when two people are inseparable.
Kyle Chow, her grandson, talked about how she brought him six Vietnamese sandwiches for months, after she learned he enjoyed their taste.
Why six?
If she bought five sandwiches, he said, she would get the sixth for free.
"When my grandmother would deliver, she would really deliver," he said. "She wanted to make me happy."
One of her proudest accomplishments was starting the Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team in the 1950s. Chow wanted to give girls a positive activity to boost their self-esteem and teamwork.
In a team farewell, five girls wearing the ornate red and gold uniforms and headdresses bowed three times before her portrait.
Bowing three times is one of the highest ways to show respect at Cantonese Chinese funerals. Then, the girls bowed before Ping Chow and hugged him.
The audience wept.
To honor Chow, King County lowered flags on government buildings, her husband said.
The daughter of a Chinese immigrant, Chow was born Ruby Mar on a city dock June 6, 1920.
Her life didn't seem to hold promise early on. Her father died. She dropped out of high school and went to work as a waitress.
But success followed her -- first in business, when she and her husband opened a popular restaurant, Ruby Chow's, and then in politics, when she and other Asian-Americans were elected to public office.
A final achievement will come this month, when Franklin High School awards her an honorary diploma.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Hundreds-pay-final-respects-to-Ruby-Chow-1276242.php∼Matriarch of the Seattle Chinese community. Ruby Chow was born Seung Gum Mar on a fish dock at the Seattle waterfront, where her father worked and lived. A midwife came to assist, being that hospital births for Chinese were a rare occurrence around that time. At age 17, Ruby moved to New York and met Ping Chow, who had been a member of a Chinese opera company and a WWII Army veteran. They married and returned to Seattle in 1943. In 1949, she and her husband, Ping opened Ruby Chow's Restaurant, a Seattle landmark that attracted celebrities and politicians alike. Among the many workers who passed through her restaurant, Ping and Ruby took in a young, 19 year old Bruce Lee in 1959, giving him a room upstairs, as a favor to Lee's father, who was an old friend of Ping from his days in the Chinese opera company. Recognized as a natural leader in the community in 1971, Ruby was first appointed to the King County Board of Equalization and Appeals by then-Executive John Spellman. Having whetted her appetite for meaningful service to the community, Ruby went on to be elected, and served on the King County Council from 1974 to 1985. In October of 2004, she suffered a massive stroke, but recovered quickly. She passed away at her home in the Seward Park neighborhood, of heart failure in 2008.
Ruby Chow was a Chinese American restaurateur and politician in Seattle, Washington.
Born as Ma Seung Gum in Seattle, she married twice. Her first marriage produced two sons. She and her second husband, Edward Shui "Ping" Chow (November 5, 1916 - June 29, 2011), opened Ruby Chow's restaurant in 1948 at 1122 Jefferson Street (at the corner of Broadway & Jefferson), the first Chinese restaurant outside of Seattle's Chinatown, where her staff subsequently included Bruce Lee. She served three terms as a King County councilwoman. She was the first Asian American elected to King County Council.
The county council named Ruby Chow Park, at the corner of S. Albro Place and 13th Avenue S. (47°32′47″N 122°18′54″W), after Chow in 1985.
Death:
Ruby Chow died in 2008, two days before her 88th birthday, from heart failure in her native Seattle, and was survived by her five children and her husband, Ping. Her daughter, Cheryl Chow, served as a member of the Seattle City Council from 1990 to 1997.
**************************************************
http://www.seattlepi.com
When Ruby Chow's son, Edward, was a boy, he didn't want to eat his vegetables.
So, he and his brother mailed the food to hungry children in China -- thinking their mother would be proud.
The Postal Service returned the soggy envelope. Their mother ordered the boys to finish their meal.
While the public knew her as a Chinatown leader and former King County councilwoman, the Chow family shared memories of the matriarch's life Wednesday during her memorial at Town Hall in Seattle.
Hundreds of people, including city and county elected officials, paid their respects to Chow, 87, who died June 4 from heart failure.
Her children's stories helped explain what motivated Chow and made her so determined in life.
When she was 9, her teacher asked why her clothing was always so dirty. Chow, the oldest of 10 children, said she was wearing everything she owned.
The next day, her teacher gave her new clothing.
As a child, she once received free medical care and named one of her sons, Brien, after the doctor who helped.
"My mother passed on these lessons of kindness," Edward Chow Jr., her oldest son from Washington, D.C., said.
They and the notion of public service took root.
Her daughter, Cheryl Chow, is president of the Seattle School Board and a former city councilwoman. Mark Chow, another son, is a King County district judge.
On Town Hall's stage Wednesday, wreaths sat next to her black-and-white portrait. Her family, including great-grandchildren, sat in the audience.
Edward Shui Ping Chow, her 92-year-old husband, made his way to the stage and thanked everyone for attending.
"We were deeply in love, and we held each other in the highest respect," Chow, who goes by the name Ping, said in Cantonese with the help of a translator.
In one family photo shown on a screen during her memorial, Ping Chow had wrapped his arm around her at a restaurant.
Next to them were two Chinese characters that mean "double happiness" -- and are used when two people are inseparable.
Kyle Chow, her grandson, talked about how she brought him six Vietnamese sandwiches for months, after she learned he enjoyed their taste.
Why six?
If she bought five sandwiches, he said, she would get the sixth for free.
"When my grandmother would deliver, she would really deliver," he said. "She wanted to make me happy."
One of her proudest accomplishments was starting the Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team in the 1950s. Chow wanted to give girls a positive activity to boost their self-esteem and teamwork.
In a team farewell, five girls wearing the ornate red and gold uniforms and headdresses bowed three times before her portrait.
Bowing three times is one of the highest ways to show respect at Cantonese Chinese funerals. Then, the girls bowed before Ping Chow and hugged him.
The audience wept.
To honor Chow, King County lowered flags on government buildings, her husband said.
The daughter of a Chinese immigrant, Chow was born Ruby Mar on a city dock June 6, 1920.
Her life didn't seem to hold promise early on. Her father died. She dropped out of high school and went to work as a waitress.
But success followed her -- first in business, when she and her husband opened a popular restaurant, Ruby Chow's, and then in politics, when she and other Asian-Americans were elected to public office.
A final achievement will come this month, when Franklin High School awards her an honorary diploma.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Hundreds-pay-final-respects-to-Ruby-Chow-1276242.php∼Matriarch of the Seattle Chinese community. Ruby Chow was born Seung Gum Mar on a fish dock at the Seattle waterfront, where her father worked and lived. A midwife came to assist, being that hospital births for Chinese were a rare occurrence around that time. At age 17, Ruby moved to New York and met Ping Chow, who had been a member of a Chinese opera company and a WWII Army veteran. They married and returned to Seattle in 1943. In 1949, she and her husband, Ping opened Ruby Chow's Restaurant, a Seattle landmark that attracted celebrities and politicians alike. Among the many workers who passed through her restaurant, Ping and Ruby took in a young, 19 year old Bruce Lee in 1959, giving him a room upstairs, as a favor to Lee's father, who was an old friend of Ping from his days in the Chinese opera company. Recognized as a natural leader in the community in 1971, Ruby was first appointed to the King County Board of Equalization and Appeals by then-Executive John Spellman. Having whetted her appetite for meaningful service to the community, Ruby went on to be elected, and served on the King County Council from 1974 to 1985. In October of 2004, she suffered a massive stroke, but recovered quickly. She passed away at her home in the Seward Park neighborhood, of heart failure in 2008.
Born as Ma Seung Gum in Seattle, she married twice. Her first marriage produced two sons. She and her second husband, Edward Shui "Ping" Chow (November 5, 1916 - June 29, 2011), opened Ruby Chow's restaurant in 1948 at 1122 Jefferson Street (at the corner of Broadway & Jefferson), the first Chinese restaurant outside of Seattle's Chinatown, where her staff subsequently included Bruce Lee. She served three terms as a King County councilwoman. She was the first Asian American elected to King County Council.
The county council named Ruby Chow Park, at the corner of S. Albro Place and 13th Avenue S. (47°32′47″N 122°18′54″W), after Chow in 1985.
Death:
Ruby Chow died in 2008, two days before her 88th birthday, from heart failure in her native Seattle, and was survived by her five children and her husband, Ping. Her daughter, Cheryl Chow, served as a member of the Seattle City Council from 1990 to 1997.
**************************************************
http://www.seattlepi.com
When Ruby Chow's son, Edward, was a boy, he didn't want to eat his vegetables.
So, he and his brother mailed the food to hungry children in China -- thinking their mother would be proud.
The Postal Service returned the soggy envelope. Their mother ordered the boys to finish their meal.
While the public knew her as a Chinatown leader and former King County councilwoman, the Chow family shared memories of the matriarch's life Wednesday during her memorial at Town Hall in Seattle.
Hundreds of people, including city and county elected officials, paid their respects to Chow, 87, who died June 4 from heart failure.
Her children's stories helped explain what motivated Chow and made her so determined in life.
When she was 9, her teacher asked why her clothing was always so dirty. Chow, the oldest of 10 children, said she was wearing everything she owned.
The next day, her teacher gave her new clothing.
As a child, she once received free medical care and named one of her sons, Brien, after the doctor who helped.
"My mother passed on these lessons of kindness," Edward Chow Jr., her oldest son from Washington, D.C., said.
They and the notion of public service took root.
Her daughter, Cheryl Chow, is president of the Seattle School Board and a former city councilwoman. Mark Chow, another son, is a King County district judge.
On Town Hall's stage Wednesday, wreaths sat next to her black-and-white portrait. Her family, including great-grandchildren, sat in the audience.
Edward Shui Ping Chow, her 92-year-old husband, made his way to the stage and thanked everyone for attending.
"We were deeply in love, and we held each other in the highest respect," Chow, who goes by the name Ping, said in Cantonese with the help of a translator.
In one family photo shown on a screen during her memorial, Ping Chow had wrapped his arm around her at a restaurant.
Next to them were two Chinese characters that mean "double happiness" -- and are used when two people are inseparable.
Kyle Chow, her grandson, talked about how she brought him six Vietnamese sandwiches for months, after she learned he enjoyed their taste.
Why six?
If she bought five sandwiches, he said, she would get the sixth for free.
"When my grandmother would deliver, she would really deliver," he said. "She wanted to make me happy."
One of her proudest accomplishments was starting the Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team in the 1950s. Chow wanted to give girls a positive activity to boost their self-esteem and teamwork.
In a team farewell, five girls wearing the ornate red and gold uniforms and headdresses bowed three times before her portrait.
Bowing three times is one of the highest ways to show respect at Cantonese Chinese funerals. Then, the girls bowed before Ping Chow and hugged him.
The audience wept.
To honor Chow, King County lowered flags on government buildings, her husband said.
The daughter of a Chinese immigrant, Chow was born Ruby Mar on a city dock June 6, 1920.
Her life didn't seem to hold promise early on. Her father died. She dropped out of high school and went to work as a waitress.
But success followed her -- first in business, when she and her husband opened a popular restaurant, Ruby Chow's, and then in politics, when she and other Asian-Americans were elected to public office.
A final achievement will come this month, when Franklin High School awards her an honorary diploma.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Hundreds-pay-final-respects-to-Ruby-Chow-1276242.php∼Matriarch of the Seattle Chinese community. Ruby Chow was born Seung Gum Mar on a fish dock at the Seattle waterfront, where her father worked and lived. A midwife came to assist, being that hospital births for Chinese were a rare occurrence around that time. At age 17, Ruby moved to New York and met Ping Chow, who had been a member of a Chinese opera company and a WWII Army veteran. They married and returned to Seattle in 1943. In 1949, she and her husband, Ping opened Ruby Chow's Restaurant, a Seattle landmark that attracted celebrities and politicians alike. Among the many workers who passed through her restaurant, Ping and Ruby took in a young, 19 year old Bruce Lee in 1959, giving him a room upstairs, as a favor to Lee's father, who was an old friend of Ping from his days in the Chinese opera company. Recognized as a natural leader in the community in 1971, Ruby was first appointed to the King County Board of Equalization and Appeals by then-Executive John Spellman. Having whetted her appetite for meaningful service to the community, Ruby went on to be elected, and served on the King County Council from 1974 to 1985. In October of 2004, she suffered a massive stroke, but recovered quickly. She passed away at her home in the Seward Park neighborhood, of heart failure in 2008.
